Mahima Chaudhry

Yeah, so she kind of stumbled into the limelight thanks to a Pepsi ad, but honestly, most people only remember Aishwarya Rai Bachchan from those days. Tough luck, but hey, that's showbiz. Her real break didn’t come from cola commercials anyway—it was Subhash Ghai who saw something in her. The guy’s got a knack for picking stars, I mean, look at his track record: Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala, Meenakshi Seshadri—he basically has a type, right? Now, the fun bit: she didn’t even start out as Mahima. That was Ghai’s doing too. Guy’s got this thing about names starting with ‘M’ being lucky for him. Bit weird, but whatever works. So, she ditched her old name, rolled with Mahima, and started this whole new chapter. Her career? Kicked off with a bang. Not everyone gets to headline their first film with a bigshot director, but she did, and people noticed. There’s always a bit of a cloud when you’re launched by someone who’s made so many other actresses famous, but she managed to carve her own space. The Pepsi days might’ve been a footnote, sure, but after that, she was in the running for the main event, no question. And really, the name swap? Seems like it paid off. Ghai’s superstition, her talent, the right time—sometimes the universe just lines up, you know?